Ongiara is an album by Canadian folk rock

Folk rock

Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...

 band Great Lake Swimmers

Great Lake Swimmers

Great Lake Swimmers is a Canadian band built around the melodic folk rock songs of singer-songwriter Tony Dekker. Originally from Wainfleet, Ontario, the band is currently based in Toronto....

, released on March 27, 2007. The album was released on Nettwerk

Nettwerk

The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...

.

The band recorded most of the album in London

London, Ontario

London is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

's historic music venue Aeolian Hall

Aeolian Hall (London, Ontario)

Aeolian Hall is a historic music venue in London, Ontario. The hall is currently located in a heritage building at 795 Dundas Street, at the corner of Dundas St. and Rectory St, just to the east of Adelaide St....

 with producer Andy Magoffin

Andy Magoffin

Joel Andrew Magoffin, best known as Andy Magoffin, is a Canadian musician and record producer. He is the songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist for the indie rock band Two-Minute Miracles and the bass guitarist for Raised by Swans....

.

The title Ongiara was the name of the boat that ferried the band to Toronto Island, where they recorded the initial demo. "Ongiara" is also the original name for Niagara Falls

Niagara Falls

The Niagara Falls, located on the Niagara River draining Lake Erie into Lake Ontario, is the collective name for the Horseshoe Falls and the adjacent American Falls along with the comparatively small Bridal Veil Falls, which combined form the highest flow rate of any waterfalls in the world and has...

; the name is said to have originated from the Iroquois word Onguiaahra and the local tribe of Iroquois

Iroquois

The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...

 inhabitants known as the Ongiaras.

Guest musicians appearing on the album include Serena Ryder

Serena Ryder

Serena Ryder is a Juno Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter raised in Millbrook, Ontario.Ranging musically between folk, roots, country, and adult contemporary music, Ryder possesses a five-octave range...

, Sarah Harmer

Sarah Harmer

Sarah Harmer is a Canadian singer-songwriter and activist.-Biography:Born and raised in Burlington, Ontario, Harmer gained her first exposure to the musician's lifestyle as a teenager, when her older sister Mary started taking her to concerts by the well-known Tragically Hip. At the age of 17, she...

, Owen Pallett

Owen Pallett

Michael James Owen Pallett is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist from Toronto, Ontario. He won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds....

 and Bob Egan.

Ongiara was available for purchase on iTunes

ITunes

iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....

 during March 2007, before its scheduled release on March 27. The song "Your Rocky Spine" reached #1 on CBC Radio 3

CBC Radio 3

CBC Radio 3 is a radio station that consists of two parts devoted to Canadian arts and music: a radio service which is available on Sirius Satellite Radio and streaming audio, and several daily and weekly podcasts from the CBC Radio 3 website...

's The R3-30

The R3-30

The R3-30 is a weekly record chart show on CBC Radio 3, which counts down the week's top indie rock singles as determined by airplay , listener feedback , and other criteria . The show, hosted by Craig Norris and produced by Pedro Mendes, airs at 11 a.m Eastern time The R3-30 is a weekly record...

charts the week of June 14, 2007.

The song "Changing Colors" has been covered by American pop singer Josh Groban. Groban used the song as the opening song on his 2011 "Straight To You Tour."

Track listing

1. "Your Rocky Spine" – 3:36
2. "Backstage with the Modern Dancers" – 4:28
3. "Catcher Song" – 4:11
4. "Changing Colours" – 4:44
5. "There Is a Light" – 5:06
6. "Put There by the Land" – 2:43
7. "I Am Part of a Large Family" – 4:23
8. "Where in the World Are You" – 3:49
9. "Passenger Song" – 4:28
10. "I Became Awake" – 5:53